


Unseen

by quarentime_fiction



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Invisibility, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:13:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29419200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quarentime_fiction/pseuds/quarentime_fiction
Summary: After the revelation of Persephone's act of wrath, an appropriate punishment must be decided. When faced with a choice, she finds herself suddenly tied to The Underworld and its infamous invisible king.Beauty and the Beast AU
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 212





	1. Chapter 1

Hera sat at her vanity, using her mirror to observe her husband behind her as they got ready for Demeter’s sentencing. It had been an open and shut trial. Demeter had openly admitted to covering up her daughter’s act of wrath. Fortunately for Persephone, Zeus’ ego had not been bruised enough by her mother’s actions to want to punish her directly for the deaths she caused. However, Zeus had decided on marrying off Persephone, therefore taking her away from Demeter, as punishment. Hera felt incredibly uneasy and had been trying to figure out a way to get the poor girl out of it.

It was rare that the issues of marriage and judgements intertwined, and she did not like it when they did. Authority became murky, and a thunderstorm size temper tantrum would ensue. Zeus had been unwilling to accept her vision as a reason to not approve the union of Apollo and Persephone. With no other suitors, and Apollo declaring his devotion (he was laying it on a bit too thick for Hera’s liking, but Zeus had found it to be an example of a “fine young god, ready to settle down”) she had been backed into a corner. But she did not respond well to being backed into corners.

“I am worried that you will be seen as the bad guy, my dear,” she said, turning from her mirror while wearing a mask of over-the-top concern.

“Whatever do you mean, bunny.” He laughed, adjusting his tie, he didn’t seem concerned.

“I know we have ordered marriages in the past but some of the others consider it archaic now,” She heard Zeus heave a sigh as slight static caused the hairs on her arms to stand. “This is not supposed to be a punishment for Persephone!” she stood up as he whirled on her.

“A punishment? I can think of many maidens that would be thrilled to marry Apollo.” Hera knew this was getting into rocky terrain, Zeus considered Apollo to be a younger version of himself.

“But we don’t know this girl, we don’t know what she wants” She reasoned, putting on her best poker face, trying to imply that it wasn’t Apollo she had an issue with. Any time Apollo was cast in a bad light, Zeus managed to take it personally.

“And that’s because Demeter has kept her hidden away all these years, that’s why they need to be separated,” Hera couldn’t argue with that. But at least he had admitted that the only thing he really wanted was to separate the pair.

“Does it have to be in this way?” Hera probed, hoping to encourage some creative thinking in her husband, that way it would be easier to convince him that this was his idea.

“You want me to give her a choice?” He sounded incredulous, giving somebody a choice wasn’t what sentencing was for.

“Don’t you think that would be harder for Demeter? Watching her daughter choose a life without her?” Hera felt the microclimate of their bedroom begin to calm as Zeus absorbed what she was saying. She continued quickly, “And she could still choose Apollo, then you will know that you were right, and I was wrong.” This would get him, it was one thing for him to get to enjoy doling out punishments, but she knew he couldn’t resist the chance to prove her wrong.

“What do you propose as an alternative?” He sounded calm now, interested. Hera felt her shoulders relax; her plan would work.

* * *

Persephone knew her mother had been upset about the sentencing, but Demeter was comforted by the fact Zeus had decided against punishing Persephone. After all, uncontrollable power surges were not uncommon for young gods. If the Olympians chose to punish Persephone for her outburst, they would be hypocrites for not turning that judgement towards themselves. Covering up the outburst, and the mortal deaths it caused, was another story entirely.  
However, Demeter had made it clear when the news first broke that the cover-up had been entirely her orchestration, and this was one of the first times that Persephone had not needed to lie to say exactly what her mother wanted her to say. It was all true. Moments after becoming cognizant of what she had done, she tried to flee her mother’s property to explain herself, only to find herself wrapped in a nest of vines and forced to listen to how “Mama will make this go away, my flower”. So she had been forced to stay, her supervision increased, desperately wishing for a moment of alone time outside the four walls of her greenhouse.

Now, instead of a greenhouse, Persephone found herself seated in the courtroom gallery, shoulder to shoulder with spectators eager to see how the gods would punish one of their own. In front of them were the twelve Olympians, though not in their normal arrangement on their elevated thrones. One green goddess stood tall at the base of Zeus' throne, waiting tensely for his decision. Very calmly, as though he were simply remarking on the weather, he spoke. 

Demeter’s punishment would be the cessation of contact with her daughter and subsequent removal of Persephone from the mortal realm.

Chatter erupted from all around, Demeter turned to run, to try and grab Persephone and pull her close, but only grabbed empty air as she was forced to the side of the room, Persephone now replacing her mother at the foot of the throne. She was stunned for a moment, shocked after feeling herself being yanked by some magical force to the centre of the room. Part of her wanted to speak, but she knew that any words she spoke while standing there would fall on deaf ears. Eleven pairs of them to be exact. 

Quickly she composed herself and tilted her head upwards to look at Zeus, who was already looking down at her. The room felt exceptionally quiet after the outburst that arose after Zeus’ announcement.

“So,” he said casually, leaning back on his throne, “where would you like to go?”

Persephone felt her jaw drop just the slightest bit, “Pardon?” This was not a question she had ever been asked.

She had been hoping for years to get away from the mortal realm and out from under her mother’s green thumb. The pressure of being constantly told what to do and how to behave was what had caused her outburst in the first place. She kept her face neutral. She didn’t want Zeus or her mother to realize that this “punishment” might be good news. _It can’t possibly be this easy_. She thought.

“It’s actually not as open-ended as it seems,” he amended, he seemed to like playing up the drama by not revealing everything at once. “You only have two choices, Apollo has requested to marry you. So, you can stay here in Olympus, and become his bride.” She felt sick. _I guess it isn’t that easy._

She knew of Apollo, he tried to talk to her frequently. Often, he snuck up on her while she was bathing in the lake. While Persephone had no issue with nudity, there was just something about the purple god leering at her and trying to get her to come over and chat that made her uncomfortable. He also had a nasty habit of turning up immediately after she spoke to any other member of the opposite sex, it was somehow unacceptable to him that she could have cordial relationships with men who weren’t him. Entering a marriage contract with him seemed like a good way to get Persephone into the exact situation she was trying to avoid with her mother.

Persephone was satisfied there were noises of confusion and anger making their way around the room, most of it directed at Apollo. Persephone noticed that his twin sister, Artemis, seemed particularly offended that Apollo had agreed to forced marriage as a punishment. She did not have to look at her mother to know that she was fuming. Men had never been part of the plan Persephone knew was laid out for her.

When Zeus seemed satisfied with the reaction he continued. “Or, you can be banished to the Underworld, where you will be under the protection of Hades and whatever else he deems necessary to keep you in your place.”

This shocked her in a very different way. And for the first time since entering the courtroom, she looked at the empty chair to the left of the King of the Gods. Only, she knew it wasn’t empty, they called him The Unseen One for a reason. She tried to recall everything she could about the god who sat before her, no doubt looking at her closely to see what her reaction would be to being forced to live in a realm everybody hoped to avoid.

Hades had been severely injured during the Titan War, she knew that much. The stories say it was so severe that not only did he chose to be the solitary ruler of the Underworld, but he always wore his helm of invisibility. Hence the name, The Unseen One. He had never been linked to any lovers, she felt this must be true. Gossip in Olympus ran rampant, and if there had ever been the suspicion of a relationship for Hades, she would have heard the flower nymphs talking about it. Maybe his detachment was an extension of his reasons for hiding under a shroud of invisibly. Or maybe, it was because he was also known to be a cold and unsocial ruler, unlike his brothers who were frequently linked to various partners and attending the most fabulous parties. Much like his appearance, Hades seemed to have taken great pains to avoid giving any indication of his true personality.

“Well?” Zeus’s impatient voice snapped Persephone back to attention, she had been staring at the empty throne for longer than she thought. Zeus looked at her expectantly. Persephone breathed deep, when she had been forced in front of the gods, she had expected that anything she said would be ignored. But now, everybody was in raptures waiting to hear what punishment she would pick for herself, and therefore her mother.

She was suddenly struck by how clever this punishment was. Not only was Zeus taking away the one thing Demeter wouldn’t want to lose, but he was making Persephone choose how she would be separated from her mother. She wondered if somebody else, Hera maybe, had inspired this. There was, after all, a marriage on the table, and godly marriages were one of her responsibilities. At this, her eyes left Zeus for a moment to focus on the golden goddess at his side. Persephone was surprised to see she looked very concerned as if there were clearly a correct choice to be made.

 _You would just be under The Unseen One’s protection._ Nudged the voice inside her picking up on the very specific language that Zeus had used, _You would not be bound to him in the way you would be bound to Apollo._ Just the phrase, “bound to Apollo” made Persephone shudder.

When stripped away to the bare bones, Persephone could see there were two outcomes, one more certain than the other. She could pick Apollo and expect to always be second to him. There was some comfort in knowing exactly what to expect, even if it was a future she didn’t want. She was uncertain about what life in The Underworld would entail. But she was intrigued, there was something very tempting in the unknown, into a future that nobody had planned for her.

She looked quickly back at the empty seat, if she could have anything at this moment, it would be to see the face of the god sitting there. Nevertheless, she looked back to the King and said,

“I choose The Underworld”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have enjoyed this first chapter. I have a few different chapters written already, but they are not in order so I can't guarantee that they will be updated consistently. I am also a PhD student so sometimes I get unexpectedly busy. I apologize in advance.
> 
> I really just started writing this for myself, I couldn't get this idea out of my head and I have always loved BATB and any BATB AUs. Feel free to leave a review if you are excited for what's to come :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Persephone is taken to The Underworld and we learn a little more about her host.

Most of the Olympians wore similarly shocked expressions. There were several exceptions. Zeus, despite having been the one to offer her both options, seemed very confused, and maybe a little bit angry. Hera was relieved and smug. Persephone looked at Apollo, deciding that even if this ended up a disaster, it was all worth it to see that Apollo was unable to hide how offended he was that she would choose anybody else over him. Demeter was the only one who was overly vocal. 

“No!” She screeched from the periphery of the room where she had been banished. “This is unacceptable,” Persephone turned, expecting to see her mother charging towards her. But she was still stuck behind some invisible line that had been used earlier to keep her in her place. “He is a _rake_ , he cannot have her. She is too good to be defiled by a selfish coward.” Persephone was unsure how much of what her mother was saying was true, and how much of it was her anger and bitterness. Either way, this was a direct insult to the King of the Underworld, yet he remained silent. Persephone was starting to doubt whether he was there at all. If somebody dared say something like that to Zeus, or even Poseidon, there would be immediate consequences.

Even with the distance between her and her mother, it was not far enough away that she could avoid seeing the tears streaming down her mother’s face. A pang of regret knotted her stomach. _You had no other option,_ she reminded herself, _Mama is to blame for this. She never taught you control, she only controlled you._ As a force of habit, Persephone felt a little bit bad for thinking that. This was in stark contrast to how she normally thought, thinking of all the nice things, saying to herself it was OK that her mom never let her go anywhere on her own because mom would buy her any book that she wanted to keep her busy. Since the news broke, she had to keep reminding herself of all the ways her mother had made her life difficult, because if she didn’t, she would turn the blame towards herself and her misplaced guilt would consume her. 

“Ha!” Zeus let out a laugh as Demeter continued to hurl insults in an attempt to undo this judgement. “If that is what you think, you have been away from us longer than we thought”. His smile faded though as he held up his hand in one sharp motion. The remaining commentary on the decision silenced. 

“Lady Demeter, as a result of your subversion of justice and attempt to conceal an act of wrath, I order your daughter to be separated from you from this day forward. Persephone, daughter of Lady Demeter, I hereby banish you to the Underworld to live under the protection of King Hades.” As he finished, there was a crack of thunder above them. Persephone jumped, looking at the King who now looked like somebody who was very proud of an overly dramatic performance. Hera rolled her eyes. 

“Dismissed,” he stated, voice ringing out across the hall. Persephone wondered if she should move, or should she wait for further instructions? She felt something around her wrist, for a moment she thought it was that same force that had pulled her before the thrones. But this was not some abstract force, this was somebody’s hand. From somewhere above her, she heard “Always a pleasure, brother,” 

_Hades._

He did not sound like it was a pleasure. 

Persephone didn’t get to hear what response Zeus had for that sarcastic remark because the world collapsed towards her as if Persephone herself was the centre of the Universe. It was quick, but it wasn’t rough, like having a dark blanket thrown over you that blocked out all light and sound. She was in darkness for only a moment before the world unfolded for her again. 

She now found herself in a room unlike any she had ever been in. The mortal realm was full of muted, natural colours. Olympus was pristine, opalescent whites and blues that never seemed to get dirty. This room was dark. Charcoal grey, blacks, navy blues. But no less pristine. It was as if the nighttime darkness had glossed over every surface. They were in what Persephone assumed was a living room. There were large couches that faced an empty fireplace. Atop the mantle were relics Persephone knew were centuries older than herself. One wall was entirely glass, looking out onto a sea of twinkling lights that she first assumed were stars, but she realized must be the blinking lights of the Underworld metropolis. She had never seen a city in the dark. 

Looking back at the room there was not much she could use to figure out more about the man who was still holding tight to her. The pressure around her wrist reminded her that this novel room she was seeing wasn’t just some kind of show and tell. She was stuck here. Everything had changed so quickly. It was bizarre, it couldn’t have been more than a half-hour since everybody had entered the courtroom. 

“You didn’t let me say goodbye.” Persephone was surprised at herself, and how small she sounded. Of course, there was a lot of negative history between her and her mother, some of which had been laid bare in the past few days, but she was still her mother. 

“This is a punishment,” the voice said harshly. The sharpness made Persephone want to recoil from his touch, but Hades dropped her arm before she had the chance. They stood in silence. 

“My apologies.” Came his voice after a few seconds. “This is supposed to be a punishment for your mother, not for you. Come on. You’ll have a room.” _How do I follow somebody who is invisible?_

She could hear him start to move, he must be wearing sturdy shoes, she could hear them tap the dark wood floors as he moved off the carpet. Despite his apology, she didn’t want to risk annoying him further, so she crossed her fingers that he would make enough noise for her to follow. She followed him out of the living room and down a hallway, off to one side of the hallway was a kitchen, on the other, more glass. Except these were doors that lead out onto a large, flat yard. At the end of the hallway was a large staircase, there must be floors above and below them because the stairs went in either direction. She panicked for a moment, worrying she wouldn’t be able to tell which direction the Unseen One was heading. But he was clearly ascending, and she followed as close as she dared. They got to the top of the stairs, there was a split, and they turned right. When she first entered the house, she thought it was deathly quiet, but as she moved through the dark corridors behind Hades, she could swear she heard creatures running around on the left side of the staircase. She wanted to ask about the sounds she was hearing, but kept quiet, worried that if she spoke, she would miss the sound of his feet stopping and she’d walk right into him. 

“This is your home now,” he said quietly, “You are not limited to your room, but I would request that you stay out of my quarters, which is everything to the left of the staircase on this floor” This did not sound like a harsh order, but a respectful request. 

“Of course,” She said, they had stopped in front of a door, she watched as the doorknob turned and the door opened to reveal a large bedroom, there were other doors inside so Persephone suspected she would find a bathroom there as well. 

She looked over to where she knew Hades was standing. It was odd and she didn’t know how she knew, but already she was starting to notice where he was even when he wasn’t making a sound. However, that didn’t ease the one fear that had started gnawing at her. 

“You will respect my privacy as well?” She asked. Her mother’s words, rake, defile, mostly spat in anger but it didn’t stop them from bouncing around in her head. She couldn’t see the man when these words had been attributed to him. Had he been furious? Embarrassed? Or had he accepted them as a badge of honour while hiding a roguish grin? From stories that she had heard about his brothers, it seemed like invisibility would be a power they would abuse. She thought it might be too bold of her to be making a request of a King, but this felt like abnormal circumstances anyway. She was surprised to hear a rather rueful laugh come from above her. Based on where the sound was coming from, she guessed he must be well over 6 feet.

“You are as much an inconvenience to me as this banishment is to you.” She felt a breeze blow strands of her hair away from her face as a large mass moved past her and back down the hallway where they came. _I guess that’s that._ She sighed, walking into the room, and shutting the door. The door had a lock, but she supposed that the owner of the house would have a key so there was no point. His parting words kept repeating themselves in her head. She assumed up until that moment that he had at least agreed to this as a possible punishment for Demeter. Why would he agree to this if he didn’t want her here? 

After shutting the door, Persephone sat on the bed and looked around her room. It was large, much larger than the room she had with her mother. The colour scheme was the same as the rest of the house, dark blue walls, dark wood furniture. She ran her hands over the duvet, it was a very soft black fabric that she couldn’t immediately place. It was very different from the unprocessed linen and wool she grew up with. There was a window, but it wasn’t like the one in the living room that spanned the entire area of the exterior wall. This one was smaller, with a ledge below that could act as a seat. It was the perfect guest room, it was anonymous, impersonal, and functional. There was nothing around to indicate that you were in somebody else’s home. She stood at the window for a few moments, taking in the space.

For some reason, the empty room turned Persephone’s nervousness into excited energy. Something about the blank space that was now hers made her feel wonderfully free. She stood and walked over to what she assumed was a closet. She threw open the doors and confirmed her suspicions. It was, however, very empty.

_This could be a problem._ She grumbled internally. She had no other clothes with her, and she could already tell that the outfit she had on was not sufficient for the cool temperature of the Underworld. She was just contemplating whether it would be appropriate to curl up in the blankets so early and just think about what would happen now. But there was a knock at the door. 

“It’s open!” She called, pleasantly surprised that Hades seemed to have the decency to knock, also surprised he had come back so soon. But when she turned, the doorframe was not empty. In it, stood a very chic-looking blue goddess. Persephone didn’t recognize her from the trial that morning. And she was sure she would have. The angles of her face paired with the blunt cut of her dark bob made the woman seem incredibly sharp. She stood with a notepad pressed to her chest while wearing a look of bemusement. 

“You left the door unlocked?” the goddess asked, perfectly neutral. Persephone assumed that the goddess must know Hades better than she did and have some opinion on whether the unlocked door was a good idea. 

“I assumed there was no point,” Persephone shrugged, “He probably has a key anyway.” The woman nodded and then held out her hand. 

“I’m Hecate,” she introduced herself. Persephone walked over a shook her hand. 

“Persephone,” 

“Oh, believe me, I know” Hecate laughed drawing her hand away. “I work with Hades. He’s asked me to come here and get a list of everything you’ll require. Then I can arrange for it to be sent over” Persephone was shocked for a moment, she knew that she was under the protection of the King of the Underworld, but she assumed she still would have been allowed to go out and purchase her own toiletries. She clearly wasn’t masking her emotions as much as she thought because Hecate continued, “I think you’ll be allowed out eventually. But you kind of shocked everybody with your choice and Hades is worried if you leave now, you’ll get mobbed by the media. You should let the shock of this scandal wear off before you try any exploring.” 

_Scandal?_ Hecate’s use of that word shocked her more than the initial thought that she wasn’t going to be able to leave this house. Why was this a scandal? She hadn’t even really picked this; it was the lesser of two evils. But had her mother kept her so sheltered that she didn’t realize how big of a mistake she had just made? What did she not know about the King of the Underworld that made her choice so shocking? The back and forth of anxiousness and excitement she was experiencing today was starting to get to her. 

“You’ll need new clothes,” Hecate broke through Persephone’s thought spiral. “I don’t know what you have from the mortal realm, but it won’t be enough. Is there anything you’d prefer?”

She looked down at herself. She was wearing a simple dress, not as traditional as she normally wore, but it wasn’t anything like the pieces she saw people wearing in Olympus. Persephone had never had much agency when it came to her wardrobe. It had been standard peplos and cloaks in the mortal realm. Hecate seemed to be dressed impeccably modern, and even the gallery members from the sentencing this morning had been dressed more fashionably than she’d ever had the chance to. At this point, she wasn’t even sure what she’d pick out if she could go shopping herself. 

“Um, surprise me.” She answered, thinking that it would probably be best to let Hecate pick out some items then she could figure out what she liked from there. 

“Sure. I’ll just pick-up basic toiletries for now. Is there anything else you’ll need?”

“Some books? I don’t really have much to do here.” At this, Hecate laughed. For a moment Persephone was worried she was going to get called a nerd by the first person she met in the Underworld. 

“I’m not buying you any books, Hades has plenty, he’ll have to learn to share” 

“He does?” 

“He’s not much of a tour guide. Follow me.” With that, Hecate turned sharply on her heel and walked down the hallway. 

It was much easier to follow somebody she could see. And not having to concentrate on hearing somebody’s footsteps, she was able to observe a lot more about the house than she had at first glance. The route they had taken from the living room had been direct. But Persephone saw now there were plenty of doorways that branched off the main hallway. At one point they passed by a long set of tall windows, Persephone glanced out, expecting to get another view of the city. Instead, she saw a massive indoor pool. _Maybe I should stop thinking about this as a house_ . _This seems more like a castle than any house I’ve ever been in._

Finally, Hecate pushed through a set of double doors and Persephone gasped. It was not a large room based on the scale of the house, but it was a very large room when Persephone realized it was only filled with books. 

“I’ll be surprised if you can’t find something that interests you in here.” 

Persephone nodded mutely, trying to figure out how far back the aisles went. Was there a ladder anywhere? This library was clearly designed for her tall host/protector. Persephone could see many books that sparked her interest that were far beyond what she could reach. 

“Can you find your way back on your own?” Hecate asked, “Spend some time in here, and then by the time you get back your things should be in your room” 

“Yes, of course. Thank you so much.” With that, Hecate left the room, and she was alone. 

Well, she assumed she was alone. 

Hecate had seemed perfectly kind, but the word _scandal_ kept repeating itself in her mind. And the fact she had to second guess whether she was alone didn’t help. She quickly turned to the stacks of books, hoping to distract herself from the doubt she felt consuming any remaining ounce of hopefulness she had previously felt. 

* * *

There was a knock on Hades’ office door. Hecate. 

“Come in,” he grumbled, not bothering to stand up. He was too busy staring furiously into the bottom of his empty glass. _Of all the idiotic things I’ve been talked into,_ he fumed. 

He also didn’t bother to put on his helm. Hecate had known him his entire existence, so there was no point hiding what she already knew was there. Plus, now he didn’t even have the solitude of his own home to be rid of it. Not now that _she_ was here. 

“She’s nice,” was all Hecate said, sitting down on her usual chair on the other side of his desk. She wasn’t looking at him yet, she was typing away on her phone. Hades assumed she was sending off the order of whatever amenities the girl, Persephone had requested. 

“Great.” 

“Feeling monosyllabic today, old friend?” She teased. Hades gave no response, just shrugged. “If you’re so pissed off about it then why did you even agree to make it an option? Hera texted you last minute, you could have said no.” He finally looked back up at her and rolled his eyes, 

“Hera said that it was just a formality. That it was just a little ruse to make Demeter’s punishment harsher.” He waved his hand in the air to emphasize his point. “And that it would make sense if I was involved because it was my realm that got tricked.” 

“Don’t tell me that convinced you,” Hecate said, she almost sounded disappointed. Hades knew that Hera’s argument was weak, he historically avoided getting involved in Olympian drama, and he had planned for this to be no exception. 

“Well, I didn’t think she’d actually pick me!” He said, as though it should have been obvious. “I know my reputation. Her other option was to marry an Olympian, that seemed like the better option from her point of view.” 

“First, you met her this morning. You can’t know her point of view. Second, you also hate Apollo. Is it so shocking that someone would share your point of view?” 

Hades did not appreciate Hecate being right. A few moments of silence passed before she spoke up again. 

“Well,” she sighed, clicking a button on her phone, Hades heard the distinct sound of an outgoing message. “Her stuff should be here soon. I left her in the library. You clearly don’t want to talk. If you’re just in the mood to be pensive, maybe spend a little brain power considering that maybe this is the perfect opportunity to start losing your “Unseen one” status.” 

Once the door closed behind her, Hades pushed slightly on the ground and spun around in his chair. Hoping the slight breeze that caused would somehow clear some cobwebs. 

If he was certain about anything, he knew that he would not be seeing this girl as an “opportunity”. It was a girl that got him into this mindset in the first place. 

_They were sitting in his car after a large Olympus party. He had stupidly decided to comment on the stares and whispers he noticed aimed in his direction. And they weren’t of the admirable kind that his brothers were receiving after the war. For some reason, he had been hopeful, but he knew Minthe well enough at that point that he should have expected an unsympathetic response. “Nobody wants a reminder of that war,” the red nymph spit at him. “and you’re a walking souvenir of that whole event. You have his face and unlike the rest of them, you’re too weak to get rid of the scars he gave you.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So happy to have had such a positive response to my first chapter. Thank you all for your lovely words. This is a fun little project for me and I'm glad you're all enjoying it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Persephone takes a tour around the house.

There was a moment the next morning when Persephone first awoke that she was struck with panic. She had only ever woken up in the mortal realm. The unfamiliarity of her new room was a shock, so much so it banished any lingering tiredness. She rolled over to gaze out the window into the perpetual darkness, wondering how her body knew to wake her up. 

She had been able to distract herself a little while longer after Hecate left her in the library. She’d made note of the location of several interesting books since she wasn’t sure if she’d be permitted to remove them from the library. When she got back in her room, all the items Hecate had promised had arrived. Persephone wasn’t quite sure how. She hadn’t heard anybody else walking around the house and the only evidence that somebody had been in the room were the clothes themselves. She supposed there were probably just things that happened when living in a King’s home that she wouldn’t be used to. Such as completely contactless delivery. Persephone wondered if this had always been the standard for Hades in order to preserve his anonymity or if this was something he had orchestrated to keep her away from prying citizens. 

Hades had made himself scarce since showing her to her room. She was confident in this. She did not know how she had been able to tell where Hades was standing yesterday, and she was similarly unable to tell how she knew he _wasn’t_ there. Maybe it had something to do with her powers? She could sense life in plants, did that extend to other deities? Mother hadn’t exactly encouraged the exploration of her powers. Nevertheless, the King’s behaviour had comforted her and she had settled on the idea that she was living with, at worse, an apathetic roommate. This was certainly a balm to her nerves, knowing she wasn’t going to have to deal with someone leering at her all the time. While distant, he had been very helpful so far in assuring that she had a comfortable place to stay and all the clothes and toiletries she needed. Although, if she was being honest, there were probably more clothes here than she really needed. 

She had only unpacked a few bags, reasoning that she needed some activities to occupy herself the next few days. She had carefully unpacked the garments, all while wondering what kind of person would be wearing them. During this, her mind had wandered back to Hades. What kind of person did he think she was? So far, he had only told her she was an inconvenience. Persephone knew she was an unexpected guest and could understand this, of course. But she hoped that she could change his mind, show her what she was really like. However, Persephone doubted _she_ knew what she was really like. She knew she had tried to fit her personality within the expectations and limitations of her mother. Who was she without them? 

Her musings were interrupted by scuffling at the door. She sat up quickly.

“Hello?” She called. Her words echoed off the empty walls, but she was confident that the scuffling at the door increased. She flipped the blankets off her and stood up. When her feet first touched the cold floor, she shivered and made a mental note to see if any of the items Hecate purchased for her were slippers. She made it to the door and opened it slowly to reveal a large black dog with 3 heads. They all stared at her for a moment, tilting all their heads from side to side as they assessed the pink goddess in the doorway. They must have decided she was friendly because they immediately closed the distance, one head begging for chin scratches while the other two gave her big slobbery kisses. This must have been the source of the noises she’s heard coming from Hades’ side of the house yesterday.

“Oh, my goodness! You must be Cerberus” Persephone laughed, leaning into the beast to give him a large hug. “I did not imagine the guardian of The Underworld to be such a love bug!” Cerberus didn’t seem to bore of the goddess’ attention easily, it took a few minutes before he finally succumbed to his happiness and slid to the floor, exposing his belly. 

“It must be your day off,” she said pointedly, looking down. “What does one such as yourself do on a day like today?” All the heads blinked up at her, she liked to think it was in understanding and that their lack of communication was due entirely to the dog being unable to vocalize his thoughts. 

“Well, why don’t you let me get dressed, and then you can take me on your tour of the house!” She told him while turning around in her doorway. She went to the closet where she had unpacked the night before. The clothes were all very modern, nothing she would have been allowed to wear with her mother. These were the outfits of Olympian women that she always admired when she had the chance to visit with her mother. Quickly, Persephone got overwhelmed with trying to pick the exact right outfit and ended up dressed simply in a pair of dark, high-waisted pants and cropped green knit sweater.

She looked at the bags she had yet to explore, picking one at random, she was happy to see a comfortable-looking pair of oxford-style shoes. Pulling the tags off, she slipped them onto her feet. Walking towards the door where Cerberus lay, she haphazardly ran her fingers through her hair to work out any knots. No styling necessary, she doubted there would be anybody around to see her. 

Persephone had expected the dog to lead her to the patio doors she had seen yesterday. To her surprise, he seemed to want to go back down to the library. 

“Are you a bookworm in addition to a fierce guard dog?” She cooed, scratching behind one set of ears, causing his tail to start up a steady rhythm against the floor. Persephone stood, thinking that she would make her way up to the kitchen to see if she could find a treat for her new friend when she realized there were some books that she hadn’t thought of looking at yesterday.

The books she had in mind looked exactly as she imagined them. Large, leatherbound, and dust-covered. The rest of the library seemed to be kept meticulously clean, save this section. Persephone supposed that when you were present for all the events the book detailed, you probably didn’t go back and read about them. 

Reading helped to fill the gaps in Persephone’s memory. Parts of it she remembered in full. Rhea, Cronus, then their firstborn, Hades. He was only 6 when he was consumed. Zeus wasn’t able to rescue him for 13 years, so he was 19 when he was finally freed. _That’s only a year younger than me, and he’d still spent the majority of his time in the body of a Titan._ Thought Persephone, making a mental note that if she and Hades ever tried to bond over their childhoods it probably wasn’t a good idea to make it seem like the overbearing mother was the worst thing in the world.

She continued to read, skimming over the broader details and focusing on any mentions of Hades. It was written that he hadn’t escaped Cronus unharmed. There was then a more academic section that followed, detailing theories on why his injuries had never healed. But after pages and pages of musings, there was no definite conclusion. But these researchers were confident that his wounds obtained during his escape from Cronus only made him more susceptible and less likely to heal from the other injuries inflicted during the climax of the war. 

She sat, stroking Cerberus’s sleek coat since he had loyally joined her on the floor of the library for her little research adventure. This book predated photographs, but there were simple black ink drawings on some of the pages. From what she knew of the other Gods, these fluid brushstrokes captured their likenesses accurately. There was a depiction of the Six Traitors, as the book called them, making their final plan before the downfall of the Titans. They all looked a little worse for wear, the artist using tiny strokes of black ink on the yellow paper to show the cuts and slashes that came with being heroes. By process of elimination, she was able to identify which line drawing was supposed to be Hades. When she first came across this scene, she gave it little notice. But as she made her way through the books, she realized that that scene was the only visual depiction of Hades in the entire set of books. 

She riffled back to the image in question and gazed down at the page. Hades had a clear resemblance to his two younger brothers. She thought of the Zeus and Poseidon she knew. She thought of their cheeky grins and overconfidence, perfect faces not betraying their true ages. What memories of trauma were they hiding behind those masks? Were they hiding as much as Hades? Just maybe in a different way? What happened to the man in the book that made him hide away from the world?

She understood why there were no graphic or explicit descriptions of his injuries in the book, but another part of her still wanted desperately to be able to get a clear picture of the man she could not see. She did not think he could be missing any limbs. When listening to his footsteps the day before, they hadn’t sounded uneven. He had kept one hand on her while transporting them down to the Underworld, but she couldn’t confirm that he had both arms. However, in all her wandering around the house, she hadn’t noticed any modifications that would suggest altered mobility. But these injuries happened hundreds of years ago, he would have had time to get used to them by the time she inserted herself into his life. 

She stared at the image a little longer, trying to commit this image to memory. She would get to know this man, even if she always had to picture him as ink on aged paper. 

* * *

Persephone didn’t hear from or get the impression that Hades was around at all for the rest of the day. After the library, she found her way to the kitchen, Cerberus trailing the entire time, and helped herself to some of the fruit she noticed on the counter. She was confident this was intended for her, as it hadn’t been there yesterday. The sight of the fruit had made her feel a little more warmly towards Hades. It didn’t appear that the fruit really matched his vision of interior design, so she thought it was kind of him to leave it out for her to find. 

Hunger satiated, she figured it was time to move back to her room. As she moved towards the staircase, Cerberus was getting more and more excited. Persephone thought that he seemed to be under the impression they were playing some kind of game or going somewhere fun. She wasn’t quite sure why he was dancing around her feet, almost causing her to lose her footing on the stairs. As they reached the top landing she laughed at his goofy antics, scratching behind his ears and while she cooed at him. 

“Such a good boy!” She gushed, “It’s so nice to have a friendly face around,” she stood up and walked towards her room. Cerberus let out a pathetic whine. 

“Oh! Now, now” she turned back around, “You can come with me,” she soothed, patting her thigh to encourage him forward. He only whined again, but this time he turned around, nosing open the double doors that sealed off Hades’ rooms from the rest of the house. She froze.

“I can’t go in there,” she hissed, moving closer and kneeling as if getting face to face with the dog would somehow make her words clearer. This was a mistake. Cerberus saw his chance and latched on to the cuff of Persephone’s new sweater and pulled her forward gleefully. Much to her horror, Persephone found herself pulled through the doorway and into the only part of the house she had been expressly forbidden from entering. Luckily, she didn’t have to fight to free herself, as Cerberus quickly let go once he had achieved his goal. She straightened up, anxious to leave. But as she stood and gazed down the corridor, a mirror image of her own, she hesitated. She wasn’t sure why, she knew she was breaking what little trust Hades gave her by being there. Like how she could tell exactly where Hades had been standing when he showed her to her bedroom the day before, Persephone felt compelled to walk forwards. 

_Bad idea_

_Bad idea_

_Bad idea_

That’s what one part of Persephone kept chanting, a more rational, safety-conscious part of her. But with each step she took down the hallway, she felt more and more of her nerve endings zinging with electricity. It felt magnetic. She wasn’t sure she could turn around even if she tried. Persephone thought she may be able to assure herself this was ok if she knew what she was going towards. What was so compelling that she couldn’t consciously comprehend why she couldn’t ignore it? Turning into a room, the pull was so strong she knew only the Fates would have been able to force her away.

This room was windowless, and the air was heavy with the smell of aged paper, cloth, and stone. She didn’t dare turn on a light. Instead, letting the light spill in from the hallway, casting a straight beam across the room. Where was he? Where was Hades? She felt all consumed by whatever was calling to her she doubted that she would be able to notice the presence of an invisible man. But then Persephone’s eyes fell on something and she realized if she came across the Kings’ path, she would know it. 

It was Hades’ helm. 

She couldn’t see the entire contents of the room, but the light from the door acted like a spotlight on the table in the center of the room. The helm sat unceremoniously on top of the table, the way somebody might throw their sunhat off after a long day of work in the fields. This wasn’t how Persephone imagined she would ever see such an important relic. But she wasn’t supposed to see this at all. 

Suddenly, it was as if somebody had snapped her tether and she sprung back into herself. Immediately she was filled with a sense of overwhelming, nauseating guilt.

She stood still for a moment, focused on the shadow she cast, willing herself to move. Before she could even attempt it, her shadow was dwarfed and replaced by a much larger silhouette as he moved into the doorframe. If she had been scared before, now she was terrified. It may have been his brother’s trademark, but Hades' roar of anger rumbled through her like thunder, shaking her to her core. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again everybody for such positive feedback! I am happy you are enjoying the story as much as I am. 
> 
> xo


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hades has to deal with the impact of his outburst.

He felt bad, but he would be lying if he said he hadn’t wanted to frighten her just a little bit. He was ashamed that was his first reaction, he wished he could have been calmer. But now he had to deal with the consequences. He had expected her to turn around, her big eyes full of fear. He expected her to cry. 

Instead, she shattered. He had no other way to describe it. He had felt his cry of anger reverberate around the room and it seemed to shake the woman to her core. One moment she was still, then like a tempered glass window she dissolved into a thousand pieces, except instead of falling to the ground each piece rose into the air and Hades realized the room was full of butterflies. 

He had summoned his helm after his outcry, and now he stood, invisible and struck dumb. His anger was forgotten seeing this storm of pink creatures retreating over his head and out of his home. Against the bleak backdrop of the room, each bright insect seemed like a living star. 

It did not take long for the kaleidoscope to vacate, they seemed to have somewhat of a uniform way of moving. Did they know where they were going? Or did they only know what they were trying to get away from? For somebody who had so long longed to be left alone, the sight of all these creatures, retreating from him in such haste and fear left him with a hollow sadness that succeeded in banishing any of his remaining anger. 

Now alone, he wondered if there was any point in chasing after them. Would that make it worse? _Probably,_ he thought. _Nobody wants me chasing after them. If she can get out of the house like that then she can get back in. There isn’t really any place too dangerous she can get into anyway. It’s not like a swarm of butterflies could infiltrate_ _Tartarus_. Hades turned to shut the door, but before he could he noticed the light from the hallway spotlighting a pile of clothes where Persephone had just been. He sighed and went over to pick them up. It wasn’t that he kept this room immaculate, but he didn’t want her coming back to get her clothes. 

As he left the room and walked towards the guest side of the house, he noticed his faithful companion sitting by the double doors looking very guilty. 

“Somehow, this is your fault,” Hades grumbled, exiting his side of the house. Folding the discarded clothes as he walked. Manipulating the fabric sent a wave of perfume up towards him. It was a lovely mix of vanilla and lilac. The novelty of it shocked him. How distant had he made himself that the smell of women’s perfume in his home was surprising to him? Objectively, he knew why it was surprising. But he hadn’t realized there would be any part of him that enjoyed the idea and was excited about it. Of course, Persephone wasn’t here of her own volition, so it wasn’t like having a friend. You also don’t yell at friends and cause them to turn into butterflies. 

He desperately wanted to make it up to her. Not just for frightening her, which was obviously bad. But he had not been a great host for her first day. He was just too shocked by this very sudden and drastic change to his home life that he hadn’t known how to handle it. He worried if he tried to approach her too quickly, he’d accidentally say something out of annoyance that he’d later regret. But he was off to the races with making a bad impression anyway. He’d make it up to her when she came back. Whenever that was. He wasn’t really sure how long it would take for a goddess to un-butterfly herself. 

He had just placed the clothes, now neatly folded, on her bed when his phone started vibrating. The intensity of the vibration immediately signalled it was one of Hades’ auto emergency text notifications he’d set up in case of trouble on the Beach or Tartarus. He fumbled the phone out of his pocket and gaped when he saw the red letters on the white screen. The words TARTARUS BREACH flashed up at him and he felt himself go cold. Had he jinxed himself by saying a swarm of butterflies couldn’t reach Tartarus? Or was this a coincidence?

Either way, there wasn’t time to figure it out. He had been microseconds away from transferring before he realized that if it was the goddess who had somehow managed to get into Tartarus, he had just dropped all her clothes off on her bed. As a precaution, he whipped a bathrobe off the back of the chair and transferred. The transfer was quick but it was enough time for him to realize that if he was going into Tartarus and decreasing the distance between himself and his father, he was in for a long night of nightmares. 

Hades could not help but be surprised when he rematerialized. When he saw the words “Tartarus Breach” it invoked images of revolts and chaos. Standing at the entrance, it was alarmingly empty. But there was no sign of any damage to any entrances or exits, and Hades would be able to sense if these souls had breached containment. No, they were still here. But where? 

He starting walking slowly into the depths. With every step he expected to see a soul, he was tensed, braced for something to appear. They couldn’t be hiding from him, actively moving out of his way. He knew they couldn't see him. Suddenly, his ears picked up on the noise. It was a strange noise, like a harsh wind moving through the trees in a storm. But that couldn’t be what it was, there were no trees down here, especially not in Tartarus and even if they could get anything here, he doubted whatever gnarled life that could manage to survive would produce leaves. He moved quickly in the direction of the noise, certain that it had something to do with the conspicuous absence of his most dangerous souls. 

For the second time that night, he found himself stunned speechless. You spend a couple hundred years designing and maintaining a realm, you think you know every inch of it, and you think you know what is and isn’t possible. About 100 meters away was what looked like a giant, god-sized birdcage. But this was not a standard cage, with uniform, grid-like bars. This was wild, full of curved edges and uneven corners. Hades doubted Hephaestus himself could create something as beautiful as this out of iron. Only it wasn’t iron, this cage was made of dozens of trees that had miraculously sprouted from the barren earth. The trunks and branches weaving together to create an almost impenetrable fence. If this had just been a display of comprehension-altering natural artwork, Hades would have stood and admired it for some time. 

This also solved the mystery of the missing souls; however, they were not contained in the cage. Instead, they had it surrounded. It was the sounds of their dilapidated skeletons scraping against the wood that he had mistaken for the sounds of windswept leaves. The souls towards the front of the hoard were climbing up, using the branches as footholds. They were swarming, searching for a weakness. The mob was layers deep, and they didn’t seem to care that they kept pushing and moving against each other like a giant wave, squeezing closer and closer. Hades wasn’t sure how much pressure the cage could handle and had a very bad feeling about who was contained inside it.

His feeling was soon confirmed as a break in the crowd gave him a direct line of sight into the centre of the cage. It was Persephone, curled up on herself like an unbosomed rose. She wasn’t actively fighting back but he was sure it was taking a great deal of strength and concentration to maintain her protective barrier. Fortunately, now that he knew what they were dealing with, it was easy enough to stop. He took a few steadying breaths, the stress from the last few minutes had sped his heart rate considerably. 

He commanded the assailants to halt, letting his power flow out across the room and blanket the souls. It always helped him to imagine each one being wrapped in an impenetrable shroud that only he could control. It wasn’t instantaneous, it looked as if somebody had slowed a video down to half its original speed. But eventually, they stopped. 

Moving forward through the silent and still souls, he could now hear the very panicked and rapid breathing from the goddess inside the cage. She was sitting up, hugging her knees to her chest, keeping her forehead glued to her knees. After what he had seen so far it shouldn’t have been surprising, but Hades was taken aback by how long her hair suddenly was. It cascaded around her in waves, moving slightly as she rocked back and forth. Her head whipped up in surprise as Hades finally reached the cage and gripped a branch, his fingers scratching the bark. 

Hades felt his heart twist as she settled her gaze on him. Her eyes were wide and shining, and they filled him with guilt. Especially since she didn’t seem to sense that she was no longer in danger. 

“Hades?” she croaked, shuffling away from him. “Please don’t be mad! I didn’t mean to come here! I don’t even know how I got here!” Her voice broke and she grabbed the hair at the front of her head and pulled it forward, concealing her face as she let out a sob. 

Hades was about to give an indignant reply, he had come here, hadn’t he? Stopped the souls from breaching her cage? She should be thanking him. But he realized how it must look to her. He had just frightened her so much she had fled from his home, only to end up in a place she knew she had no business being. He knew what stories people told about him, unlawfully entering his domain was not something he was canonically lenient about. He was also still invisible to her, whatever image she had conjured of him in her own head was surely one that was bristling with anger because in their limited interactions he had not given her much else to work with. For a fleeting moment, he considered removing his helm. But he already felt so raw being so close to his father, he didn’t feel like exposing himself further. Instead, he crouched down outside the cage, trying to level himself with the goddess inside.

“I am not angry, this is not your fault,” he said soothingly. “You shouldn’t have been able to get in here at all.” If Persephone heard him she gave no indication. He tried to push aside one of the wooden bars, only to find it as solid as steel. She still sat, trembling, trying to keep everything out. Hades could feel his strength starting to waver with the demand of having to keep so many souls at bay. He found an opening large enough and put his hand through, holding out the bathrobe. 

“Persephone,” he called again. “Please come out, we need to go home, Sweetness.” She peaked out from her curtain of hair, just as surprised as Hades was at his term of endearment. He would have to figure out where _that_ came from later. The sight of the floating bathrobe in the middle of Tartarus seemed to be odd enough that it snapped Persephone out of whatever nightmare she was experiencing. She quickly grabbed it wrapped it around herself. Hades averted his gaze for a few seconds to ensure she would have her privacy. 

Suddenly he felt himself lurch forward. He had been bracing most of his weight on the cage and he now felt it relenting. The trunks and branches returning to an upright position. There was now a perfectly circular grove of trees. Hades was surprised they hadn’t withered and died already. Persephone moved towards him, she was unsteady on her feet. He wondered how much energy it had exacted from her to come here and then protect herself. Probably a lot more than she was used to. 

“I’m going to pick you up now,” Hades warned. “We’re going to have to fly back. It’s safer” Hades didn’t want to admit he was also feeling a little low on energy and focus and wasn’t sure if he could transfer both of them home at the same time. She nodded in consent and he swung her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest. 

“I’m so tired,” he heard her say, her breath making a warm patch on the fabric of his shirt. 

“You can rest soon,” He said softly, as he brought them out towards the exit. Closing the doors behind him he let himself release some of his control. Distantly, he could hear the sounds of the souls reanimating. He took off, and as the wind started rushing bast his ears he thought he heard Persephone mumble “Thank you” against his chest. But he wasn’t confident enough to respond. As they flew, he tried not to think about how this was the closest he had been to somebody in a long time, or how neatly she was able to fit against him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the delay in this update! I blame it on writers block+ Chain of Iron release. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There won't be much of a delay for the next one since its already written and just needs to be polished.


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